How Ever Long It Takes
by Live-Forever-Love-Always
Summary: Caroline's life before giving in to the inevitable - allowing Klaus to be her last love. Really bad summary, hopefully better story.
1. Chapter 1

**How Ever Long It Takes**

**Ok, so I know that I have 2 stories that I am currently writing and haven't updated in a while but after watching last night's episode I had a bit of a fangirl moment and needed some Klaroline. Neither of my other fics are Klaroline, so let me know what you think and if I should continue or not. **

**I am currently writing chapters on the other 2 and they will be up within the next week.**

**There will time jumps in this story, I will do my best to make it work. There will not be much Klaroline in this chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Vampire Diaries, no copyright intended.**

Caroline sat on the couch watching Gilmore Girl reruns whilst eating Ben and Jerry's ice cream – cookie dough of course. She loved the witty banter between mother and daughter and had spent years wishing she had a relationship like that with her own mother. Her and Liz were in a much better place then they had been 2 years ago.

Despite loving this show, she had tears streaming down her face and felt the sting of betrayal. She had only recently learnt of Bonnie's death.

Wrapped up in her own thoughts, she didn't realize she had company until he sat down beside her and pulled her into a hug.

She looked up and gave him a watery smile.

"Are you ok?" she asked him, concern evident in her voice.

He chuckled humorlessly "You are the one crying and you are asking me if I'm ok?"

"Yes well I'm not the one that spent the last 2 months locked in a safe at the bottom of the Falls" she gave him a sad smile.

"Huh, the less said about that, the better." He replied with a hard look in his eyes.

"Sorry Stef, I didn't mean to bring it up. How are the urges going?" She asked with an apologetic look upon her face.

"Not too good, the ripper is there. Just below the surface scratching to get out. Anyway lets not talk about it now, it isn't helping any. You missing Bonnie?" He asked trying to change the subject.

"I don't want to believe that she is gone. But the part that gets me the most is that Elena kept it from me. I can't believe she did that to me. And then when I called her out on it she just brushed me aside like I was being overly dramatic! She knew for a whole week before I did! Who knows how long she would have kept it from me had you not told me when I found you. She had no right to keep it from me, Bonnie was my friend too!"

By this point Caroline was in hysterics, violently shaking from the sobs that took control of her body.

Stefan's heart broke watching his best friend shaking in his arms so obviously out of control. It was unnerving seeing her like this and he wished he could do more. He knew there was nothing he could do so he continued to hold her, rubbing soothing circles onto her back trying to give her some semblance of comfort. He continued comforting her until she fell asleep from exhaustion.

Looking down at his friend in his arms he sees her shiver slightly and makes a move to grab the blanket that is at the other end of the couch, intending to cover he with it, without waking her. Unfortunately the blanket is just out of his reach and he sighs defeated, when the blanket seems to move of its own accord to cover her.

Stefan just stares in shock at the blanket before mumbling "well that's not creepy at all".

"What's not creepy?

He looks up to see Katherine staring down at them expectantly.

"Nothing, don't worry about it Kat".

"OK. How is she doing?" she asks motioning towards the blonde asleep in his arms.

He sighed "Not good. One of her best friends died, and the other kept it from her. She is nearing her breaking point – I'm not sure how much more she can take. She is one of the strongest people I know but everybody has their limit. I just hope she hasn't reached hers." He glanced sadly down at Caroline before resuming his gaze on Katherine.

Katherine also looked down at Caroline in regret. She was sorry for her part in the blonde's despair over the years. Ever since Elena had forced her to take the cure, Caroline had been there for her. She had stopped Damon when he had tried to kill her and had even let he stay with her. They had formed a tentative friendship in the beginning, which had slowly solidified over the last couple of months. She had genuinely begun to care for the blonde.

To say that he was shocked when he found out that Katherine and Caroline were friends and they now lived together was an understatement. But he could see how genuinely Katherine cared for his best friend and that was enough for him to give her a chance. As a human she was different. Nicer somehow but just as strong in character. And she was fiercely protective of Caroline. She was enraged when she had heard that Elena had withheld the knowledge of Bonnie's death from her new friend and had to be restrained and talked out of attempting the murder of her doppelganger.

When Elena had shown up at Caroline's door trying to bug her into forgiving her, Katherine slammed the door in her face but not before giving her doppelganger a black eye. This had caused a slightly shaky laugh from Caroline once she had seen the look on Elena's face. Stefan wish he had seen that but had contented himself with Katherine's telling of it.

**Ok so I know that not much has happened in this chapter, as it is more of a set up for the story. Tell me what you guys think. I would love to hear your feedback. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**So, it has been a while since my last update (a bit of an understatement). I am no longer living in the US but have moved back to the UK. Hence the ridiculously long time between the first chapter and this update.**

**I am looking for a beta for all of my stories, so if you are interested in being my beta for one or all of my stories please pm me **

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TVD OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. I ONLY OWN MY IMAGINATION. NO COPYRIGHT INTENDED.**

Caroline awoke feeling a weight around her. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up to see that she had fallen asleep on Stefan; who was currently asleep with his arms around her. Deciding that she needed to stretch her legs she attempted to get up slowly and gently without waking him. Unfortunately for her, this was proving quite impossible as he was holding onto her like a stuffed toy as if his life depended upon it.

She huffed exasperated and just decided to give up. At this moment Stefan's arms opened up as if someone was holding his arms open – only there was no one to be seen. Caroline looked around before moving out of Stefan's embrace as quickly and gently as she possibly could.

Glancing around her living room Caroline said "Thanks Casper". At which point a pillow from the couch was lifted up and hurtled at her. She started laughing and replied "Ok, ok...I know you hate that nickname" lifting her hands up in defence.

"But it's not as if I know what your name actually is. I mean you kind of just appeared - well sort of – and started doing randomly helpful or mischievous things."

"Are you talking to the spook?"

Caroline spun round to find Katherine standing in the doorway with an amused expression upon her face. But before she had a chance to reply Katherine's hair decided to become a mini tornado around her head.

"I guess he doesn't much like being called Spook either" Caroline managed to get out between giggles.

Katherine just glared at her.

"Who doesn't like being called Spook? And what the hell happened to your hair?" They both looked over to find that Stefan had woken up.

"Caroline's ghost"

"He is not my ghost!"

"Well he sure hangs around a lot if he isn't your ghost"

"Wait! What do you mean Caroline's ghost?" Stefan interrupted before a full blown argument broke out between the two.

"Well we don't actually know. All we know is that he showed up around the time the veil went back up and has been doing random things." Caroline replied whilst looking anywhere but at Stefan.

"Like messing with my hair" Katherine pointed out.

"Well who is he? And how do you know it's a he?"

Both girls looked at one another before shrugging and then Katherine replied "He really doesn't like being called a she".

"Stop with the worried vampire look! It's fine, he has been helpful, a bit mischievous at times but in general he has been a great friend – as weird as that sounds". Just as Caroline had finished speaking she was lifted into the air and seemed to just spin in midair.

Stefan looked horrified but both Caroline and Katherine were laughing.

"What the hell is going on?" Stefan said slightly panicked.

Just then her feet were gently placed back on the ground. "He was giving me a hug Stef, calm down. It's fine – I promise. Now I'm going to go have a shower and get dressed." She skipped over to him and gave him a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek and sped up to her room.

Katherine couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face. "Well I'm going to go and fix the mess that the resident ghost did to my hair."

* * *

Stefan looked around slightly bewildered. "So, er...ghost. Was it you that pulled the blanket around her?" The blanket in question seemingly started to fold itself up.

"Huh, I guess that answers that question then. Look, she's my best friend and she is very fragile at the moment – I just don't want her getting hurt anymore than she already is."

Stefan felt the hair on the back of his neck rise and he shivered as someone blew across the back of his neck. Just then he heard a voice whisper in his ear "I protect her as if she is part of my own family. The light that she possesses inside of her must be protected at all costs. At present she is vulnerable to attack but is unheard of – which is to our advantage in the pursuit of her protection. Get the ripper under control and help me, or it is very likely that I might become your end."

Stefan shivered once more as the words settled in. He had many questions but knew that he would not receive any answers just yet. It was evident that the ghost was not a threat to Caroline and for that he was grateful. He understood that the ghost saw him as a threat as long as the ripper was still there, scratching to get out.

* * *

Caroline stepped out of the shower and went to look for some clothes to wear that day. Upon entering her bedroom she saw that there was already an outfit awaiting her on her bed, including underwear. "Perv" she mumbled knowing full well that the ghost had done this. But she did love the dress he had picked out so thought that there was no harm in humouring him.

Just as she was done putting the finishing touches to her make-up, a long necklace was fastening itself around her neck. It was beautiful, an antique egg shaped necklace that hung just below her breasts. It had intricate detailing all over the pendant itself which looked like it held something but Caroline was unable to open it up.

As beautiful as it was, it wasn't from her jewellery box so she went to take it off. But felt her hands being moved away and heard a soft and faint whisper full of desperation "please". Somehow she could feel the importance that the ghost had for her wearing it, even if she didn't fully understand why. "Ok, fine" she replied.

"Hey, Care. Can I borrow your-"

Caroline looked up to see Katherine staring at her with her eyes almost popping out of her head.

"Kat, Kat. What is it?"

"What's going on?" She looked towards her door seeing that Stefan had entered her room.

"I don't know, she-"

"Where did you get that?" Katherine interrupted pointing at the necklace.

Caroline looked down at it before replying "The ghost put it on me."

"Oh my god, it can't be" Katherine spoke almost to herself at this point before she broke out in full blown Bulgarian leaving both Caroline and Stefan staring at her speechless.

**Ok, so I am going to leave this chapter here otherwise it will just go on and on and take longer to update. I'm sorry there wasn't any Klaroline action in this chapter but that will come up in the next chapter, at this point I am still trying to set the foundation for the story. You should also find out who the ghost is in the next chapter. I will be aiming for weekly updates. **

**Again I am looking for a beta if anyone is interested. This chapter isn't my best work I'm afraid.**

**Anyways love you all, sorry for the delay. Please let me know what you think.**

**Live Forever Love Always xoxo**


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